In modern society, efforts are ongoing to prevent or lessen environmental impacts resulting from leaking of petroleum products and other chemicals into the environment. Efforts are made by petroleum industry workers, chemical industry workers, transportation industry workers, military personnel, governmental workers, and other workers involved in liquid containment to guard against environmental contamination resulting from undesired release into the environment of various liquids and chemicals. Various portable containment berm units and systems have been developed as tools in the ongoing efforts by society to contain liquids and other flowable materials. Many containment berm units are constructed from petroleum and chemically resistant flexible coated fabrics including polyester yarn fabrics coated with polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride or other suitable coating material and many of these containment berm units have flexible sidewalls held in an erect condition by sidewall supports with the sidewall supports retained in sidewall support sleeves.
An object of the present invention is to provide an easily removable closable containment berm wall support that is more convenient and easier to use and that makes a containment berm unit having at least one flexible sidewall and the sidewall having a sidewall support sleeve for receiving and retaining a wall support more secure than the containment berm unit would be if equipped with prior art open ended wall support members.
Preferably, a plurality of removable closable berm wall supports are used to selectively hold a flexible berm sidewall in an erected condition or selectively let the sidewall down to a let down condition. The invention allows easy removal and replacement of damaged wall supports.
Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of containment berm wall supports that can be quickly opened flat to permit a sidewall to be lowered to a let down condition and then quickly folded and closed to raise and hold the sidewall in an erect condition.
The present invention relates to a novel containment berm wall support that improves the utility of a portable containment berm used to contain liquids and chemicals and that helps protect against release of the liquids and chemicals into the environment.